Next year's New York Mets: It's hard to get excited about this year's version of the Mets, who are 11 1/2 games out of first place in the National League East. But Queens caught a glimpse of what the future might look like Tuesday when current ace Matt Harvey and future ace Zack Wheeler tag-teamed a doubleheader sweep of the division-leading Atlanta Braves.

The AL MVP Race: This one figures to be a blast, if the two assumed leaders - Detroit's Miguel Cabrera and Baltimore's Chris Davis - can keep up their paces. Cabrera would end up with 167 RBI. Davis has 27 homers. The real winner? Us since we are watching this drama unfold.

Rehab: They tried to make Bryce Harper go to rehab and he said - well, eventually. Harper's injury soap opera continues to play out in Washington. Nationals manager Davey Johnson said Friday that Harper is scheduled to begin an assignment at Class A Potomac on Tuesday. Harper then said that timetable may be a bit premature. However this shakes out, his return to the lineup can't possibly come soon enough. Washington is second-to-last in baseball in on-base percentage and third from the bottom in batting average.

Role reversals: No, Buck Showalter, you can't actually toss the entire umpiring crew, or even just of its members, from the game as you tried to do Friday night in Toronto. But we admire the innovative ways of the Baltimore Orioles skipper.

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Taiwanese Rhinos: Try as the Rhinos of the Chinese Professional Baseball League did, they couldn't keep slugger Manny Ramirez around. Now, the 41-year-old longtime Boston Red Sox star is considering a return to Major League Baseball.

Sixth chances: That's what the Detroit Tigers apparently couldn't afford to give to their closer, Jose Valverde. He was designated for assignment Friday after an inconsistent past month that had fans in the Motor City calling for his replacement. They finally got their wish.

Josh Hamilton: The mere presence of Hamilton's name in the Los Angeles Angels' lineup card Tuesday night decreased the team's chances of winning by 47.7 percent. That's what an 0-for-5 night at the plate, including two strikeouts, grounding three times into a double play and leaving seven runners stranded, can do to a team's chances.

Cannibals: Next time, let's keep the bath salts a little further away from the Washington Nationals clubhouse. Jayson Werth was quoted this week as saying, after another draining loss, "We gotta show up tomorrow ready to eat someone's face."